Rizwan Anwar Explains PM Youth Programme Priorities

InterviewYoung people are “the precious asset of the country,” Rizwan Anwar Virk, Special Representative to the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme on International Linkages, told Radio Pakistan, as he set out the four areas the programme is working on: employment, education, environment and engagement.

The interview, with Radio Pakistan correspondent Qasim Bukhari and published on 25 January 2025, is a concise statement of how the programme describes its own priorities and which government schemes it points to.

Four focus areas

Rizwan Anwar said the Prime Minister is focused on youth development and that the programme, under Chairman Rana Mashhood, is committed to it. He said the programme is working on social engagement and transformation, is creating opportunities for young people, and that positive results are becoming visible.

Entrepreneurship and freelancing

Young people, he said, are increasingly starting businesses rather than only looking for jobs, and that in turn helps others. He also said Pakistan’s IT sector is the fourth-largest freelancing industry in the world. That figure is his own statement in the interview, and Radio Pakistan does not cite a source for it.

The schemes he named

He praised Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s Laptop Scheme for supporting young people’s livelihoods, and described Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif’s announcement of a laptop distribution as “a positive step” for the country’s growth.

He also pointed to the Youth Business Loan Scheme, a national climate plan that includes internships, and the Assan Karobar Scheme, which promotes entrepreneurship and job creation. The report gives no figures for loans, laptops or internships.

Sources and related reading

Original report: Radio Pakistan. More on this site: Media & News, the London youth engagement session and the blog.